Resources for Volunteer Management

Each volunteer hour in 2022 = $30.80 (The Independent Sector)

If you recruit volunteers, coordinate events or manage a nonprofit, consider the benefits of the Volunteer Engagement Training Program (VETP), which was developed by Points of Light and its HandsOn Network affiliates like Volunteer Alexandria.

Our next volunteer training sessions start on Thursday, September 14 through October 5. 

View volunteer training schedule register online

This comprehensive training program is a series of seven, 2.5 hours modules, and it’s based on the latest research and best practices in the industry.

Speakers address motivators for engagement, how to conduct assessments and identify risks, plus help volunteers with bias, build equitable environments, strategies with performance issues, and much more. 

Thanks to the Morris and Gwendolyn Cafritz Foundation, we offer the entire series for $160 or $25 per person for each session. If payment is a barrier to this training, please contact us.

Next training schedule

  • Sept 14: Establishing the framework: An overview of volunteerism today and how to create a successful volunteer framework
  • Sept 18: Planning for volunteer engagement: How to assess and conduct a volunteer engagement assessment, risks to consider and resources and support needed to effectively engage volunteers.
  • Sept 21: Opportunities and outreach: Volunteering trends, describing positions from the volunteer perspective and developing an outreach strategy.
  • Sept 25: Intake and onboarding: Defines techniques for screening, interviewing and matching volunteers with positions, plus orienting volunteers and staff training techniques.
  • Sept 28: Creating equitable environments: How to create an equitable environment for volunteers and how to help participants find the right match for their skills toward a sense of belonging.
  • Oct 2: Supervision and support: Benefits and strategies for supporting and supervising volunteers, how to address performance issues and effectively recognizing volunteers.
  • Oct 5: Evaluation: Program and stakeholder evaluation and satisfaction surveys to improve outcomes.

Volunteer management guides

Organizations

Online resources

  • Energize, Inc., www.energizeinc.com.  Susan J. Ellis's site, "especially for leaders of volunteers."  Includes a volunteer management bookstore, library, referral network, job bank, monthly essays with responses welcomed, etc.
  • E-Volunteerism, www.e-volunteerism.com.  This “electronic journal of the volunteer community" is edited by Susan J. Ellis and Steve McCurley.  It includes articles, discussion groups, and other information on volunteer management.  
  • Service Leader’s Virtual Volunteering Project, www.serviceleader.org/virtual. The Virtual Volunteering Project provides resources for two kinds of volunteer services: Technical Assistance, which includes online research or providing a particular expertise to the agency; and Direct Contact, which connects the volunteer and client via email, chat room, or other media.
  • Volunteer Today , www.volunteertoday.com.  Managed by volunteerism consultant Nancy Macduff, this site is an electronic gazette for volunteerism.  Particularly helpful is the current news in the field and a calendar of events.